The Legends of FAW•KINN•AE RSS

That's no walleye!!! A furry surprise awaits two friends fishing for walleyes late one night. Another Fawkinnae adventure (or misadventure).  

It has been a bad year (that's an understatement), but there have been some bright spots and happy moments. I was planning to write an upbeat letter to include with Christmas cookies as gifts for favorite friends and neighbors. I even found a cookie recipe that seemed perfect: spiced rosemary citrus cookies, decorated as Saguaro cactus with Christmas lights. Fawkinnae perfect! I have a history of disappointments and disasters making cookies, so I carefully followed the recipe. I was the guy who used rancid Crisco in his peanut butter blossoms. The grandkids said, “Something died!” when I opened the oven. I now like to call those my stank blossom cookies. I was concerned when there was 4 eggs and 3 sticks...

Last October Cody my 10 year old chocolate lab, his new little brother puppy Parker and myself, decided to visit my buddy Farmer Mike. Mike and his wife Susan have a beautiful property located along the lower Kinnikinnick River valley Southwest of River Falls. We were casually walking an upland area of his property admiring some new prairie plantings when we noticed a flock of turkeys along the edge of the woods. Cody also noticed them and, of course decided to chase them. “Fawkinnae, there he goes—the mighty Cody doing what dogs do best. Oh well, no big deal, he never goes too far.” After a short walk we got to where he disappeared into the woods and called for...

A fall fishing trip to Lac La Croix on the Minnesota Ontario border includes a fish hook stuck in someones thumb and the challenges to removing the hook as well as non-stop cold rainy weather, a tent that leaked badly, a boat that leaked, a bear in camp and exceptional walleye fishing.

  My son has fished with me on the Minnesota fishing opener since he was in kindergarten. We always camped at a remote campsite on Lake Winnibigoshish from that first time until his senior year in high school. When he was in fifth grade he asked if he could bring his friend Brian along for the opener. Brian’s a good kid and it seemed like a great opportunity to introduce another kid to fishing and camping, so I said, “Sure.” Our routine has always been that we get up at 4:30 A.M., leave at 5:30, breakfast in Deer River about eight, baitshop and then on to Winny. Everything was going smoothly. We’d left on schedule and we were making good...